Date of Award
Fall 12-11-2023
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership (Ed.D)
Department
Educational Leadership
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. Keneisha Harrington
Committee Chair
Dr. Tamela Thomas
Second Committee Member
Dr. Nicolas Clegorne
Abstract
Over the past decade, teacher leadership has become a critical component of igniting and sustaining local school improvement. Yet, the effectiveness of this distributed leadership model hinges on teacher leaders' ability to effectively influence the practices of their colleagues. The foundation of this influence, just as with students, is developing meaningful relationships. Since the clarity of roles and responsibilities of teacher leaders is not only murky, but also varies from school to school, teacher leadership can be perceived as an added layer of hierarchy or supervision which could hamper the relationship building process. The purpose of this study is to determine how teacher leaders perceive the role of building peer relationships has on their efforts to influence the instructional practices of their colleagues as well as the methods used by these leaders to manage peer relationships. In addition, the conclusions drawn from this investigation will determine if the challenges of constructing and maintaining peer to peer connections warrants specific training on relational skills for teacher leaders.